The instant invention relates generally to inserting machines and more particularly to a method for selectively printing a Postnet barcode on envelopes.
It has long been an objective of the U.S. Postal Service to have all of the U.S. mail pre-barcoded. The barcode employed by the U.S.P.S. mail processing equipment is known as Postnet, and is comprised of a series of short and long bars which encode a ZIP+4 for a given address. This barcode sequence can be presently seen on certain types of mail pieces today, particularly business reply and courtesy reply (payment) envelopes.
The barcode reading and sorting technology is present in all major mail processing facilities nationwide. Mail which is not pre-barcoded is first sent through a complex optical character reading machine (OCR) which captures an image of the typed or hand written address, converts this image to text, looks up the address in a 4 billion character national ZIP+4 street data base, and "sprays" the barcode equivalent of the ZIP+4 on the envelope.
After the OCR stage, the mail is sorted by significantly less expensive barcode sorter (BCS) equipment. The goal to pre-barcode all of the U.S. mail volume is essentially an effort to reduce the expensive and relatively slow OCR step. The U.S.P.S. estimates that a savings of 60 to 80 million dollars per year will be achieved for each one percent of the mail volume which is pre-barcoded. The savings are so dramatic that the U.S.P.S. offers a user discount of approximately 20% for each First Class pre-barcoded mail piece.
Mail pieces sorted into mailings according to the zip code first three digits, last two digits, down to ZIP+4 digits and the mail carrier route level result in progressively lower rates. However, a minimum number of pieces must be present in each grouping to qualify for the lower postal rates.
There is presently available sophisticated equipment for the printing of barcodes on envelopes. One example is an envelope inserting system in which a variety of documents and inserts are assembled, collated and inserted into a waiting envelope. In one such inserting system, the top document in the collation includes the address of the recipient of the envelope, which includes a glass window. The inserting system includes sensors and reading devices which read the address on the document and then the system printer prints a Postnet barcode on the lower portion of the envelope so that the envelope can qualify for a bulk mail presort discount. In order for a mailpiece to qualify for the discount, it generally must include a 9 or 11 digit zip code. However, in certain cases an address does not include such a zip code. The mail pieces that do not contain adequate zip code information cannot be imprinted with a Postnet barcode. However, if nothing is printed on these mailpieces, the output of the inserting system will lack integrity because the output will include mail pieces which are not accounted for by the printer because the printer did not print and thus did not record anything for these mail pieces. Thus, the output of such an inserting system will not have full mail piece integrity.
If the Postnet barcode included a symbol representative of a blank, the output of the inserting system would have integrity and be qualified for a postal discount. But, the Postnet barcode is not capable of printing blanks or anything representing blanks. The instant invention thus provides a method of printing nothing on the envelopes in those cases where the address does not contain the proper zip code information but the printer accounts for such envelopes so that they can be outsorted downstream of the printer and the remainder of the printer output can be accumulated in a bundle which will have integrity and qualify for a postal discount.